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They did not even have much practical belief in a republic. But their conception of statesmanship was patterned on their dream. Their ideal statesman was no tactician, no compromiser, no skilful organizer who could keep various factions and pressure groups together. He was a man of elevated character, who knew himself to be in the right, a towering monument in a world of calumny and misunderstanding, a man who would have no dealings with the partisans of error, and who, like Brutus, would sacrifce his own children that a principle might prevail.

— Twelve Who Ruled by R. R. Palmer (Page 19)

Most white southerners believed in the 1950s that they lived in a humane racial system; their myth was that they treated black people well. They also believed that black people accepted segregation, except for a few malcontents. It was shocking for them to see nicely dressed black college students reading their textbooks while sitting at a lunch counter waiting for coffee, when they could get takeout coffee at the back door. Doubly shocking to see white men beating them up. Two secrets were exposed at once: black people want freedom, and segregation requires violence. Millions of slogans on picket signs could not do what a simple sit-in could do. Campaigns have power when we get beyond words-when we show rather than tell.

— How We Win by George Lakey (Page 96 - 97)

The black feminist activist and author Grace Lee Boggs put it this way:

People are aware that they cannot continue in the same old way but are immobilized because they cannot imagine an alternative. We need a vision that recognizes that we are at one of the great turning points in human history when the survival of our planet and the restoration of our humanity require a great sea change in our ecological, economic, political, and spiritual values.

— How We Win by George Lakey (Page 178)

Switch tactics to lower risk. Under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in the 1980s, Chileans campaigning for democracy faced extreme repression. They used the tactic of opening their windows and banging pots and pans, an impossible tactic to counter that built a strong sense of solidarity.

— How We Win by George Lakey (Page 144)

In November 18, 2011, campus police at UC Davis pepper-sprayed students sitting on a paved path in he campus quad. The students were acting in solidarity with the growing national Occupy movenent, and joining wich studens of other UC campuses to protest a dramatic jump in tuition that coincided with the firing of professors and campus workers and pay raises for administrators. Videos showed police in riot gear beating the nonviolent protesters with batons and dragging two of them by the hair as well as prolonged pepper-spraying.' The videos of the police brutality electrified the nation, woke up uncounted potential allies who until then had been asleep, and energized the movement. "The paradox of represion" is what sociologists call this dynamic. It happens when the brutality intended to stop a movement instead gives it energy and strength. Another famous example was the police assault on Occupy Wall Street participants walking across the Brooklyn Bridge in 2011. The attack aroused a tidal wave of support for Occupy.

— How We Win by George Lakey (Page 137)

Breaking windows, taunting police, and stopping traffic don't dramatize anyone's vision of justice or truth. Action logic teaches us to use our human skill of imagining how our action looks to others, the message it sends. Provocative actions send the message: "Dont trust me, I'm anti-social and it's okay to arrest me or whatever, I don't stand for the values that you believe in." We need to remember Bill Moyer's point that shining the light on an injustice only works if it contrasts with the aspira- tions of the broader culture. When transgender activists did their public transit campaign they attracted allies by appealing to a widely shared value. Once other riders thought about it, the idea of a transit authority deciding an individual's identity seemed almost like Orwell's 1984.

— How We Win by George Lakey (Page 111)

Breaking windows, taunting police, and stopping traffic don't dramatize anyone's vision of justice or truth. Action logic teaches us to use our human skill of imagining how our action looks to others, the nmessage it sends. Provocative actions send the message: "Don't trust me, I'm anti-social and it's okay to arrest me or whatever, I don't stand for the values that you believe in." We need to remember Bill Moyer's point that shining the light on an injustice only works ifit contrasts with the aspirations of the broader culture. When transgender activists did their public transit campaign they attracted allies by appealing to a widely shared value. Once other riders thought about it, the idea of a transit authority deciding an individual's identity seemed almost like Orwell's 1984.

— The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin (The Earthsea Cycle, #6) (Page 111)

When US. Attorney General Robert Kennedy was informed ofthe bus burning and beatings, he urged CORE to exercise restraint! CORE trained additional teams to ride buses into the South, and were backed up by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Southern Christian Leadership Conference. (Diferent campaigns helping each other.) More than 60 Freedom Rides traveled across the South through the summer. They ended up in Mississippi where they were jailed. Since the attorney general and his brother, President John F. Kennedy, couldn't persuade the civil rights leaders to stop the campaign, they ordered the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to act. The Kennedys at last sent federal marshals to the South to enforce the law.

— How We Win by George Lakey (Page 109)